Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Baba's cheesecake, sort of



Cheesecake
The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook Copyright 1997, 1998

CRUST:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients together and pat onto bottom and sides of an 8-inch springform cake pan. Prepare filling.

FILLING:
2 eggs
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla

Beat eggs and softened cream cheese together. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Pour into prepared crust. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes. Add topping.

TOPPING:
½ cup sugar
1 cup sour cream I used lite because that's what I had
½ teaspoon vanilla

Combine ingredients and put on top of cake; return to oven for 10 minutes.
_______________________________

My husband's grandmother has several recipes that she seems reluctant to part with. I've had no luck at all figuring them out on my own, except for her cheesecake. This recipe was extremely close, if it had been cooked another 5 minutes and I left out the crust. Personally, I like a crust with my cheesecake.

Funnily enough, I made this cheesecake for my family on Thursday and on Saturday, when I had Thanksgiving with my husband's family, Baba made her cheesecake and somehow we (me, my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law) actually pried her cheesecake recipe out of her. It was very close to this one, same ingredients but different amounts (and no crust). I just found it kind of ironic that she gave it up as soon as I figured it out on my own. And no, I did not get the macaroni salad recipe but now I at least have hope that I might someday.

By the way, this is a great cheesecake. I think it just needed another 5 minutes in the oven to be perfect. I think fancy, flavored cheesecakes are great but plain cheesecake is best. Paula Deen did include a fruit topping recipe with this in the cookbook but I didn't use it.

I don't think I have any more Thanksgiving recipes. Maybe I'll blog about the pie I made that wasn't that spectacular. I'm not sure yet. The dinner rolls came out good for a first try but I never got a picture. I brought home a few leftover rolls to photograph but the cat chewed through the ziploc bag and ate them.

A Blast From The Past: Sausage and Mushroom Pasta from February 2006. We had this last night. It goes over very well in our house. I used turkey kielbas and Dreamfield penne last night.

Question of the Day: Do you like cheesecake? Plain or fancy?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like cheesecake...HOWEVER, I don't like the sour cream topping that is sometimes put on it. If this is in the recipe I always leave it off.

Brilynn said...

Any cheesecake. Plain. Fancy. Fruity. Chocolate. Caramel. Mocha. Any way you slice it, I'll have some.

Anonymous said...

Cheesecake is cheesecake is cheesecake. I've never met a cheesecake I didn't like. :o)

Anonymous said...

Any kind is soooo good, but I really love the plain, pure cheesecake.

Jan

Anonymous said...

Naughty cat!

I've never been fond of cheesecake, especially plain. The fancier it is (i.e., the more its cheesiness is disguised), the more likely I'll eat and enjoy it.

Anonymous said...

I just love Paula... I'm watching her on TV right now.

The cheesecake looks really good - I like the crust on it it too.

Any cheesecake is good to my palate.

Sara said...

I love cheesecake, specifically my mom's which sounds a lot like this recipe. I only like it plain though. That's the best.

ThursdayNext said...

I am with brilynn - any cheesecake will do! :) I love this time of year when some places serve pumpkin cheesecake. Heck, I even love Italian cheesecake with ricotta!

Annie said...

Any cheesecake for me too. I guess my favorite would depend on my mood on that day.

Yours looked pretty darn good!

Anonymous said...

Any cheesecake is a good cheesecake as far as I am concerned!

Anonymous said...

I'm not a big fan of cheesecake, although I love cream cheese. Robin however, loves cheesecake.